The invention relates to a disc valve.
Disc valves are known which comprise (a) a housing having an inlet and an outlet, and having formed in it a disc chamber in communication with the inlet and the outlet, (b) fixed and rotatable control discs which are arranged in the disc chamber, the discs being in contact with one another via cooperating sealing faces and each of the control discs being provided with at least one control opening, the control openings of the two control discs being continuously adjustable between an aligned open position and a non-aligned closed position, and (c) a device for biasing the rotatable control disc towards the fixed control disc.
Under normal conditions of use, the side of the rotatable control disc remote from the sealing face is acted upon by the inlet pressure, so that this control disc is securely pressed against the fixed control disc when the valve is closed. If there is a large pressure difference between the inlet and the outlet in such a valve, high friction forces are produced between the two control discs, particularly in large valves, and correspondingly powerful drives are needed to regulate the valve, which drives are not only expensive but also require a corresponding amount of space.